What if you have already been riped off? What can you do to repair your identity? The road to repairing your identity can be a very difficult one. However, once you have determined that you have been the victim of identity theft it is very important that you limit your exposure going forward so that no additional damage will occur. Here are some steps to repairing your stolen identity.
1. Place fraud alerts on all credit reports and then review them. Credit reports will can be available free of charge.
2. Close all accounts that have been effected or opened without your permission.
3. File a report with the police where the identity theft took place.
4. File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.
I would add that a free credit report can be obtained annually (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion...the three biggies).
Totally agree that the police should immediately be alerted...and that does mean immediately. Also cancel any "lost" cards as soon as you discover them missing...even if that means calling from your cell phone in the Macy's parking lot. ;)
Posted by: Melanie | December 11, 2008 at 06:39 PM